Novel Treatment Methods for Topical Pain Management

ABSTRACT Clinically available therapies, such as patch based topical treatments, local analgesia injections, and various combinations of these therapies, often prove to be inadequate for treating chronic severe cutaneous pain and postoperative incisional pain. This ineffectiveness results from their limited duration of therapeutic activity, inadequate intensity of local analgesia, and potential adverse side effects especially associated with their chronic use. In this review, we discussed several treatment methods for topical pain management: microneedles (MN), stimuli‐triggered on‐demand local anesthesia, photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT), and local direct drug administration. Microneedles offer a minimally invasive means to deliver analgesics directly to subdermal nerve layers, enabling both rapid and prolonged therapeutic effects with fewer systemic side effects. Stimuli‐responsive systems, activated by triggers such as heat, light, or mechanical pressure by ultrasound, allow for spatiotemporally controlled analgesia, improving precision and minimizing drug overuse. PBMT, a non‐pharmacologic approach using specific wavelengths of light, has also shown potential in reducing inflammation, promoting tissue repair, and modulating pain perception without direct drug delivery. Novel direct local drug administration using pen delivery system using permeation enhancer facilitate easier drug transport across skin barrier. Together, these innovative strategies reflect a shift toward more personalized, efficient, and less invasive approaches to cutaneous pain management.